Professor Andrew Gordon (Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Professor of History) wrote a two-part article "Historical Context for COVID 19 Policies in Japan and Asia"「日本とアジアにおける新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）対策の歴史的文脈」, featured on the blog of Tokyo College of the University of Tokyo.

Both parts can be found online in both Japanese and English.

Part 1: https://www.tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/weblog/1896/
Part 2: https://www.tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/weblog/1847/

Another version of this article is posted at: https://epicenter.wcfia.harvard.edu/blog/explaining-japans-soft-approach-to-covid-19